Perpendicular surface magnetic anisotropy in ultrathin epitaxial Fe films

Journal Article · Tue May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990 · Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology, A (Vacuum, Surfaces and Films); (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1116/1.576657· OSTI ID:7061347

Liu, C; Bader, S D ^[1]

---

1. Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL (USA)

The {ital in} {ital situ} surface magneto-optic Kerr effect is used in conjunction with low-energy electron diffraction and Auger characterizations to study the surface magnetic anisotropy of ultrathin Fe films for various epitaxial structures: face-centered-cubic (fcc) Fe(100) on Cu(100), fcc Fe(111) on Ru(0001), body-centered-tetragonal (bct) Fe(100) on Pd(100), and body-centered-cubic (bcc) Fe(100) on Au(100). All of these films exhibit a universal behavior of perpendicular spin orientations below a critical thickness of six monolayers (ML) or less, in spite of their structural differences, suggesting a surface electronic as opposed to geometric origin of the magnetic anisotropy. These films differ in their monolayer-range magnetic properties due to interdiffusion and electronic interactions across the interface. Fe/Pd(100) and Fe/Au(100) exhibit submonolayer ferromagnetism and growth-temperature dependent magnetic anisotropy, while {lt}2 ML Fe/Ru(0001) lacks a ferromagnetic signature.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 7061347
• Journal Information: Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology, A (Vacuum, Surfaces and Films); (USA), Journal Name: Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology, A (Vacuum, Surfaces and Films); (USA) Vol. 8:3; ISSN JVTAD; ISSN 0734-2101
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360104* -- Metals & Alloys-- Physical Properties
AUGER ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
DATA
DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
ELEMENTS
EPITAXY
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FILMS
INFORMATION
IRON
KERR EFFECT
MAGNETIZATION
METALS
MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY
NUMERICAL DATA
ORIENTATION
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
SPECTROSCOPY
SPIN ORIENTATION
THIN FILMS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS